


Who You Truly Are

by LessAttitudeMoreAltitude



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Acceptance, Canon Compliant, Gen, Hera's POV, Jedi Training, Self-Doubt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 06:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13584096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LessAttitudeMoreAltitude/pseuds/LessAttitudeMoreAltitude
Summary: Kanan may think his life as a Jedi is behind him, but Hera knows better.





	Who You Truly Are

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a drabble, then evolved into a larger oneshot. 
> 
> (Don't worry, I'm still working hard on The Undeserving).

“Would you ever take on a padawan?”

“What!?” There was a loud _clang_. “Ow!”

Hera winced in sympathy. In hindsight, it was a bit of a loaded question and could have waited until Kanan was no longer working on the _Ghost’s_ underbelly. “You okay?”

“I’m _fine_ …” Kanan dragged himself out, rubbing a spot on his head. “What did you say?”

“I asked if you would ever - ”

“Actually, no. I heard you the first time. Don’t say it again. And the answer is no. Okay? Okay. Moving on.”

Hera watched incredulously as Kanan crawled back under the ship. “Just like that?”

“What do you want? A fully annotated list laying out all of the reasons that would be a terrible idea?”

Hera sighed. She didn’t know why she had expected any different. In the two years since he had joined her aboard the _Ghost_ , Kanan had made it very clear that he was ‘not a Jedi’. According to him, that part of his life was long dead, and he had no desire to bring it back to life. Ever.

Still… “I was just thinking, there must still be Force-sensitive children littered across the galaxy, right? Given how much we get around, the chances of us finding one must be - ”

“Astronomically low.” There was the sound of metal scrapping against metal as Kanan continued the repairs. “Only one out of every hundred _trillion_ sentients are Force-sensitive.”

Alright, those were pretty steep odds. “It could still happen. And if it did, you wouldn’t even _consider_ training them?”

“Kriff, no.” Kanan crawled back out, wiping his hands on an oil stained rag. “Last thing I need to do is screw up some poor kid.”

She couldn't help but chuckle at his self-loathing. From the lives he had defended on Gorse to the children he had saved on Brentaal, Hera knew firsthand that Kanan was a kindhearted protector (when he wasn't completely wasted). She knew he had the potential to be a great mentor. “You wouldn’t ‘screw them up’, Kanan.”

“No? You know I never completed my training. I was young for a padawan, and I was only apprenticed for a few months,” he said bitterly. “What could I possibly teach?”

“You have _years_ of training and experience as a Jedi! Compared to a youngling who likely wouldn't even know who the Jedi _are_ …”

But Kanan just shook his head. “If we ever find a Force-sensitive child, we are going to leave them with their parents where they belong. Then maybe they'll have some chance to live a normal life.”

He said it with finality, and Hera let it go. For now. She hoped that, someday, he would be able to accept his Jedi past. And if by some miracle they _did_ find a Force-sensitive child, maybe he would finally figure out that he had something to offer this galaxy besides drunken flirting and unbridled gunslinging.

* * *

“A _kid_ tripped you up? Must be some kid. Spill it!”

“Aren’t you a little busy right at the moment?”

Since when was Hera Syndulla incapable of having a perfectly reasonable conversation while dodging tie fighters? “Spill.”

“What do you want from me? He dropped in the middle of our op, stole a bike of crates, and ran. We tried to catch him, but a tie fighter got in our way.”

"So he managed to not only outmaneuver  _you_ , but a tie fighter as well? Kid sounds impressive.”

Kanan gave her a ‘look’. “You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking…”

“He held on to a crate of blasters with a pack of troopers on his tail!”

“Because I was there to save him! He’s a streetrat! Wild, reckless, dangerous, and…” he glanced back at the camera. “... gone?” Hera chuckled as Kanan scrambled to their internal com. “Zeb, Sabine, where’s the kid?”

_“Calm down, chief. He’s in…. Uh, here?”_

“Zeb…” Kanana practically growled. “Where is he?”

“ _Well, he is still in the ship_.”

A few low thumps echoed through the _Ghost’s_ ventilation system.

Sabine chimed in. “ _Oh, he’s_ **_in_ ** _the ship alright."_

Hera couldn't help but smile. “Very creative. Sounds like someone I used to know."

“Ugh…” Kanan rolled his eyes, leaving the cockpit presumably to find their missing charge. Hera just shook her head, knowing the they were going to be having a very interesting conversation later.

* * *

“There’s nothing to talk about, Hera.”

“No? The fact that we just _picked_  up a kid who was able to fend of the _Empire_ isn’t interesting enough?”

Kanan scowled. “I’ll admit, the kid’s impressive. But that’s no reason to take an _interest_ in him. We finish the job, then we drop him off back home, okay?”

Hera narrowed her eyes. Kanan was being suspiciously cagey about this. “What’s going on? Why are you so hesitant about this kid? Seems like he’d be really useful for our cause.”

Kanan pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “I just… think he’d be better off… _away_ from us. You know, with his own family…”

Echoes of an older conversation made themselves known. “Oh Goddess… He’s Force-sensitive, isn’t he!?”

Glancing around in alarm, Kanan shoved her into the privacy of his cabin. “I don’t know for sure. I just…” He hesitated.

“You _sensed_ something in him,” she finished with a smirk.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been disconnected from the Force for years. It’s probably just my imagination.”

“And if it’s not? If he’s actually Force-sensitive?”

Kanan pursed his lips. “There _is_ a way to know for sure.”

Hera raised an eyebrow. “And that is…?”

* * *

“I think you have something that belongs to me.”

Without a second thought, Ezra pulled the holocron from a back pocket and tossed it to him. “Good luck saving the galaxy.”

With a slight frown, Kanan watched Ezra run off towards the decrepit tower, the holocron resting in his hand.

“He opened it,” Hera pointed out with a hint of triumph in her voice. “He passed the test."

Kanan rolled the holocron from one hand to the other. "So it seems." 

Hera watched Ezra vanish into the distance, resisting the powerful urge to go after him. It shouldn't have been surprising that he was an orphan. The kid was on the thin side, and his clothes weren't exactly what you'd call 'clean.' But his admission had triggered a fiercely protective side of her. It also meant Kanan had no excuses. Ezra didn’t have a family to go home _to_. Frankly, even if Kanan was still under the asinine impression that he couldn't train the boy, Hera wasn't about to leave him behind to continue living as a streetrat.

She knew what Kanan wanted. At least, what he wanted deep down. She saw the way Kanan had smiled at Ezra both during and after the mission. He liked the kid. And he saw potential in him.

The question was whether or not Kanan was finally going to accept who he was.

Kanan noticed Hera gazing at him. “What?” he asked.

She waved her hand in the direction of the tower. “Well? Are you going after him or not?”

“Of course I am. I have to get my lightsaber back.”

Hera glanced down at his belt, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “The kid lifted something off of _you_?”

“Hey, I _let_ him take it.”

Hera crossed her arms with an amused smirk. “Uh huh.”

Kanan glanced back down at the holocron, looking pensive. “You know, he might not _want_ to join us. Especially after we left him with those Imperials.”

Her cheeks were starting to hurt as her smile widened. “You’re going to train him.”

“I’m going to _offer_ to train him,” Kanan clarified. He looked up in the direction of the tower. “Whether he accepts will be up to him.”

Hera had little doubt what Ezra’s response would be. She saw that twinkle in his eye when they had saved the Wookies. She saw the way he had unconsciously leaned into Kanan’s touch. That boy needed a family, and they were more than willing to welcome a new member.

But more than anything, a part of her heart soared as she watched the subtle change in her gunslinger. The confidence that had always been just under the surface was finally starting to shine through. She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Well, go ahead and offer already. We need to get on to our next job.”

Despite his half-smile, Kanan narrowed his eyes at her. “You already knew.”

“No, but I had hoped." She turned to go back into the  _Ghost._  "It’s nice to know my hopes aren’t in vain.”

It wasn’t the end of a road. She could see the doubt in his eyes as he gazed at the tower in the distance. But there was also determination as he put the holocron away and ran out into the plains to follow his soon-to-be padawan.  
  
"It's about time," Hera said softly.


End file.
